RWBY: Salem's Shadow
by Warrior of Spectra
Summary: It was supposed to end when Ruby used her powers to destroy Salem once and for all. But it did not end. Three years after the defeat of Salem, a new Master of the Grimm has risen. As the world begins to be dragged into a new war, Weiss, alongside Blake and Yang, struggles to save Ruby from Salem's shadow that now threatens her entire being.


_Ozpin told us that the Silver Eyes were key to countering the Maiden Powers. He was right._

 _He also told us that the Silver Eyes were the bane of the Grimm. Again, he was right._

 _Finally: he told us that the Silver Eyes were the only way to finally end Salem's threat. But the price of defeating Salem…was a life. While this theory was not proven, it was sound. Salem was, after all, part Grimm and their creator. Ruby believed him. Despite knowing she would have to sacrifice her own life, Ruby was willing to give up her life so others could live._

 _Blake, Yang and I were horrified when Ruby agreed without a second thought to be that sacrificial lamb that would destroy Salem._

 _We tried to persuade Ruby not to go through with it. Not to sacrifice her life just to kill Salem and end the Grimm._

 _Blake and I said that while it was indeed_ _ **logical**_ _to take this course of action…Ruby was still our team leader, our friend…most importantly she was a sister to us. Blake and I tried to persuade her that it was better to continue to fight the Grimm and Salem. Humanity and the Faunus had fought against the Grimm since our peoples first set foot on Remnant, and we have fought back against them since then._

 _Yang did not care about any possible alternatives. She did not care about the world…she was not about to lose her sister. While Yang offered no alternative…she voiced what Blake and I felt._

 _But Ruby…is Ruby. If is there a way to save any person, she was willing to do what it took to protect those people. There was no way Blake, Yang and I could convince her…so we did the only thing we could do: Follow the leader of Team RWBY into battle against Salem as she advanced on the Ruins of Beacon Tower, with all four of the Relics in her hands._

 _Ozpin told us all Ruby needed to do was look Salem directly in the eyes and the soul of Salem would enter Ruby's own soul…and they would both die, Ruby and Salem. The Grimm would most likely still exist but would be nothing more than a finite force of creatures with no master._

 _As we reached the docking platforms of Beacon: Blake, Yang and I accepted Ruby's choice…_

 _But as Ruby looked Salem in the eyes…none of us expected what happened next._

XXX

Black particles soared at Ruby as she rushed towards Salem with her semblance, silver eyes beginning to glow. As the particles of Grimm struck Ruby, the girl was pinned to the floor of the ruins of Ozpin's office. Weiss saw Crescent Rose knocked back by the force of the blast and fell off the ledge towards the ground hundreds of feet below.

Salem, smirking at the now restrained Silver Eyes girl, turned her attention to the screaming blonde as Yang charged forth, both Ember Celica and her cybernetic prosthetic in shot gun mode. With a series of six punches, Yang proceeded to punch the Grimm Master with enough strength that caused the Witch's bones to crack…however as she was knocked backwards with the sixth blow, Salem ended up landing on all fours, bones quickly reassembling as fast as Yang's blows.

Glancing at Weiss, Blake and her shared a nod as Blake rushed forward, with Gambol Shroud's blade unsheathed and the bladed scabbard held in her left hand, in order to help her teammate keep the Witch occupied as Weiss rushed to Ruby to help unpin her.

As Salem got to her feet, she waited for both Yang and Blake to attack her. Blake, not wanting to see what the Witch could do, fired off five rounds of ice dust from Gambol Shroud's machine pistol form. The Dust rounds struck Salem, who glared at the cat Faunus in annoyance as the Dust struck her feet, pinning the witch to the floor.

Blake and Yang proceeded to slash and punch Salem repeatedly, not giving her a chance to attack…however: The Witch felt no pain from the strikes. With a loud Nevermore like screech, both Blake and Yang were quickly disorientated.

Holding up her left arm, Salem swiped forward, her arm extending like it was made of rubber, at the two young woman. The force of the swipe caused both Yang and Blake to be knocked to the side and over the side of Beacon Tower.

"YANG! BLAKE!" Ruby sobbed as she watched helplessly as her sister and friend were flung off the side of the tower.

Weiss, trying to use any Dust she had left to free Ruby from the Grimm like substance holding her team leader down, closed her eyes, tears streaming down her cheeks upon realizing Blake and Yang were gone.

The sound of Salem's slow footsteps confirmed to Weiss that the witch was coming towards her.

Slowly, Weiss stood up, Myrtenaster's blade pointed towards Salem as she slowly advanced with a confident smile…her crimson eyes staring into Weiss' sky blue ones. Weiss was scared…looking into the eyes of the mistress of all Grimm. But she refused to yield. Not to Salem, not to the Grimm…not to the world. No one would harm Ruby.

"Weiss…" Ruby pleaded, tearful Silver Eyes looking at Weiss pleadingly. "WEISS!"

Pressing the trigger on Myrtenaster's hilt: Fire Dust surrounded the blade of Weiss' weapons and quickly used a Motion Glyph to speed forth at Salem, ignoring Ruby's pleas.

In a flurry of jabs, Weiss stabbed Salem in the abdomen, attempting futilely to wound Salem. As Salem swiped out her arm at Weiss, the former Schnee Heiress used a motion glyph to send her sliding to the side. Summoning a dust glyph infused with lightning dust, Weiss shot forth three bolts of lightning at Salem, the first two being deflected with Salem's bare hands but the third met its mark on the Witch's abdomen.

As the smoke on Salem's chest dispersed, Weiss gaped at what she saw: A hole was made straight through the witch's abdomen…but Salem was still alive and standing. Slowly, the hole completely sealed, and the witch simply smiled as if amused at a child discovering something new in the world.

"That hurt…" Salem confessed as the wound sealed. Then: her smile turned into a confident smirk. "Well…my feelings at least."

In a flash of speed that was even impossible for Ruby, Weiss felt Salem's fist connect with her chest and the force being strong enough to send her backwards and off the side of the tower. As she fell, Weiss attempted to summon her White Gigas Knight, only to realize her Aura was disabled…without her aura she could use her semblance!

But before her fall was quickly broken when she an arm grab her arm and was rushed forward. Looking up at her savior, Weiss saw Blake using Gambol Shroud as a grappling hook.

"Thanks!" Weiss said, smiling. "Yang?" She suddenly asked, concerned for the fiery Brawler.

"She's fine." Blake answered, looking at the ground. Glancing down, Weiss saw flashes from Yang's shot gun blasts from Ember Celica and her cybernetic arm, she was holding back several Grimm attempting to come to their mistress' aid.

Looking up passed Blake…she saw Ruby slide to the ledge, almost falling over the side…Salem approaching her…just below Ruby was Crescent Rose, embedded into the side of the tower.

Weiss' eyes steeled coldly on Crescent Rose and quickly looked to Blake.

"Blake! I need a boost back up there!" Weiss shouted.

Blake nodded as she began to swing on Gamble Shroud's tether, trying to build up momentum.

"You got a plan?" Blake asked.

"Normally," Weiss began…before admitting: "This time I'm just going to do what Ruby does: Plan as I go along."

With that, Blake swung Weiss up towards Crescent Rose. As Weiss flew through the air: the former Heiress focused on Crescent Rose's shaft. Albeit barely, Weiss grabbed hold of the grip. For a heart stopping moment: Weiss felt the Scythe begin to dislodge from the tower wall. Acting quickly, Weiss closed her eyes and tried to reactivate her Aura, despite knowing it had been broken.

But in a turn of luck, Weiss felt her Aura re-engage. Quickly: Weiss used a Gravity Glyph to cause her feet to stick to the side of the tower.

Wasting no time: Weiss dislodged Crescent Rose and conjured more gravity glyphs up the side of the tower and proceeded to run upwards towards the top.

As she neared the top, she heard Ruby's screams as Salem struck her.

"Truly, I am sorry Ruby." Weiss heard Salem say, as if genuinely apologetic that she was torturing Ruby. "But you are the only threat to my existence…and I cannot allow that."

"Even if you kill me…others _will_ stand up to you!" Ruby countered, followed by a crack of lightning, causing Ruby to scream.

"You truly do sound like your **_mother._** " Salem spat disdainfully.

Weiss ground her teeth together.

 _"_ _Come on!"_ Weiss mentally screamed to herself.

As she reached the ledge of the tower, she held up Crescent Rose and quickly summoned a motion glyph under her feet: causing her to zip upwards.

Both Ruby and Salem looked up in shock as Weiss appeared and zoomed towards Salem with Ruby's scythe.

With a mighty thrust, Weiss slashed Crescent rose across Salem's right shoulder, down across her chest to the left side of Salem's rib cage, completely bisecting the Witch, just as she had indirectly done to poor Penny a year and a half before.

Salem looked at Weiss in shock as her body fell onto the ground, black blood spreading from both parts of her bisected body.

Weiss, panting, glared at Salem's body…tired: Weiss fell to her knees as her aura dispersed again, Crescent Rose laying on the ground beside her.

She had done it…she'd had to have killed Salem. Ozpin said only by the Silver Eyed powers could Salem be killed. She regenerated a blast of lightning dust, but Weiss had cleaved half of Salem's body off! She had to be dead…Weiss saved Ruby…Ruby was not going to die. She was going to live…she was going to…

"WEISS!"

Weiss' eyes widened as she looked up…and stared into crimson eyes as the impossible happened…as the two halves of Salem had somehow reassembled and the Grimm mistress was now alive and rushing towards her. Not knowing what to do, Weiss stumbled backwards…

A rush of wind and the smell of roses flew in front of her.

Ruby had rushed forth, snatching Crescent Rose and continued to run at the now startled Salem. The Witch held up her arms, attempting to lash at Ruby. But before Salem could do anything, Ruby screamed and lashed out with Crescent Rose, severing both Salem's arms, causing black blood to spell to the floor.

Salem screamed and attempted to back away…instead Ruby lashed at Salem's feet, severing them completely,

The Witch's body fell to the floor, now completely helpless as her severed hands and feet moved around helplessly across the floor, desperately trying to return to their owner.

Ruby, with an angry scream, stabbed Crescent Rose into Salem's shoulder as the latter attempted to flip onto her stomach, attempting to avoid the silver eyes, but was now pinned to the floor. Ruby leaned forward…silver eyes glowing.

As the glow engulfed Salem, Ruby and Weiss, the Witch let out one more Nevermore like cry in defiance…

And then there was silence…

After what felt like an eternity, the silver glow subsided, allowing Weiss to open her eyes…in front of her…Ruby sat on her knees motionlessly, over the now motionless body of Salem as it, like a Grimm, began to dissolve into black smoke.

Weiss, struggling to get to her feet, felt her heart beat fast as she saw Ruby motionless.

"Ruby…" Weiss whispered as she finally reached her feet, albeit with difficulty. "RUBY!"

Stumbling forward, Weiss reached her leader and teammate. Moving to the front, Weiss grabbed Ruby's shoulders as she kneeled in front of the brunette haired girl, whose skin was deathly pale and her eyes closed…she was barely breathing.

Weiss shook Ruby's by her shoulders.

"RUBY!" Weiss sobbed as she tried to wake Ruby.

But…Ruby's eyes did not open…

Closing her eyes as the tears streamed down her cheeks, Weiss wrapped both her arms around Ruby…pulling the girl's body into an embrace.

"Oh…Ruby…" Weiss whimpered. "I'm sorry…I'm so sorry…"

There were so many things Weiss wanted to say to Ruby…things she wanted to say that she had not said at Beacon, nor at their reunion at Mistral nor their travels across Remnant…and now…now…

"W…Weiss…?" A weak voice spoke behind Weiss.

Eyes opened in shock, Weiss looked at Ruby as she backed away…Ruby's eyes were open…though they looked dead, they were open…Ruby was alive!

"Ruby?!" Weiss gasped as she gripped Ruby's shoulders. "Ruby…" Weiss gasped again as she hugged Ruby again. Not caring about the circumstances. She did not care how Ruby was alive, only that she was alive!

"Weiss…" Ruby whispered again. "Yang…Blake?"

"They're alive." Weiss said, swallowing a lump in her throat as she slowly let go Ruby, but still held her shoulder. Relief washed over Ruby's eyes upon hearing that, tears dropping from her eyes. "You did it Ruby…You did it…"

Looking at the black smoke of Salem's remains as they drifted to the sky, Ruby smiled weakly…realization slowly dawning on her.

"I…I did it…" Ruby said…eyes widening weakly. "Am I…are we?!"

"No…we're very much alive, you dolt." Weiss said, smiling despite using her usual reprimand.

A sigh escaped Ruby.

"Thank goodness…" Ruby said. The girl proceeded to look at her surroundings and tried to stand…though she stumbled briefly, but was caught by Weiss, who helped the silver eyed girl stand. Together the two walked towards the edge of the tower and overlooked the courtyard.

Bellow them: Ruby and Weiss saw a crowd of people in the courtyard of Beacon…soldiers, huntsmen and volunteers from all the four kingdoms who had come together to help stave the Grimm advance as Team RWBY confronted Salem. Among them included Blake, Yang, Jaune, Nora, Ren, Qrow, Oscar/Ozpin and many of Team RWBY's friends who had come to their aid.

Seeing Weiss and Ruby standing triumphantly atop the tower, a roaring cheer from the courtyard was heard.

It was a cheer of relief and happiness. The long nightmare of Salem and her Grimm was over…humanity and Faunus kind had survived!

Turning to each other, Ruby and Weiss smiled…and embraced each other.

"Thank you…Weiss…" Ruby said, gratefully. "For being the best friend and partner…"

Weiss smiled, enjoying the embrace.

"I should be thanking you, Ruby…"

A few minutes later, a Bullhead airship arrived to the top of the Tower. Out of the airship came running Yang and Blake, who quickly joined Weiss and Ruby in a group hug. Yang, in happiness and relief, hugged her sister tightly…happy that her sister was alive.

Together, Team RWBY stepped onto the Bullhead, which then flew to Beacon, where Team RWBY would be hailed as heroes of Humanity and Faunus…

XXX

 _Blake once told me Ruby always wanted to give people a Fairy Tale ending…an ending where everyone lived happily ever after. That is why she was a Huntress. She was a Huntress for all the noble reasons. Because of her: We all became better Huntresses. She made our team stronger._

 _It did not matter that she defied Ozpin's theory that a Silver Eyed warrior needed to sacrifice her life to defeat Salem and save the world._

 _What mattered: Ruby was alive…_

 _…_

 _But in the flurry of happiness…in the flurry of our joy that Ruby was alive…We never stopped to question how she was still alive._

 _..._

 _Looking back…I had seen the signs before everyone else…But I did not want to believe them._

 _Because of me: The World would soon suffer a long night two years later._


End file.
